Is Taichung the best place to live in Taiwan?

[Baas_Babelaas]

I have to say, with regard to the foreign community in Taichung, it’s a mess!

There are thrice as many foreigners as there were when I arrived two years ago. And there are so many divisions amongst us - borne of ego clashes, desire to be ‘top dog’, petty rivalries, etc etc.

The rumour mill is alive and well in this town, and way too many foreigners plug into it and believe the shit they hear, recycle it in an exaggerated fashion, and swiftly brush all their dirt under the carpet.

I was at a popular nightspot on the weekend and looked around me, in all directions I saw haters. People that smile to your face and swiftly pull the dagger when you turn your back.

The majority of them don’t frequent this site, it’s way ahead of them - requires them to be objective and conscious of what they’re saying.

The above does not refer to the many people in Taichung, including posters on this site, who keep their noses clean, work hard and keep away from the ever spinning rumour mill.

BS, I say! Foreigners in Taichung, who live your fantasical, no-responsibilities lives, sort ya shit out!

It’s becoming a minefield of wankers and wannabees whenever I go out on the town…

[jeffoasis]

to dirt merchant :bravo: :bravo: :bravo: :bravo: :bravo: :bravo: :bravo: :bravo: :bravo: :bravo: :bravo: :bravo: :bravo: :bravo: :bravo: :bravo: :bravo: :bravo: :bravo: :bravo: :bravo: :bravo: :bravo: :bravo: :bravo: :bravo: :bravo: :bravo:

but…

is it beyond hope?

i remember when…napoli…blah,blah,blah!

i just laugh the best remedy!

[GongChangZhang]

Well that explains a lot. :snooty:

[jeffoasis]

[quote]

Well that explains a lot.

huh? :help: [/quote]

[GongChangZhang]

[quote=“jeffoasis”][quote]

Well that explains a lot.

huh? :help: [/quote][/quote]

There’s a kind of foreigner syndrome that goes on. Foreigners avoiding contact with foreigners they don’t know. It was discussed on another thread.

So if there are a bunch of cliques (i’m definitely not in them, unless they just let any one in, and then it wouldn’t be a clique would it?)

So these guys and gals ain’t going to be tipping their hat and saying “top of t’ mornin’ to ya.” to me.

And if the other foreigners think that the foreigners are all to cliquey and jerky and back stabbing, and they don’t know me, then they ain’t going to be tipping their hats and saying, “top of t’ mornin’ to ya.” to me either.

So that explains the foreigner “syndrome”. For worthy reasons or not.

I think it’s quite funny actually. Wrote home and told my friends about it.

So the little :snooty: was symbolic of foreigners here.

“That explains why foreigners are generally antisocial”

[jeffoasis]

would assume that you are not going to paint me with the same brush, i talk to anybody and everybody, but i can see the cliqueness and understand why many people can’t be bothered…i have my days! but…

maybe you, dirt merchant and i should sink some beers and show everybody what it’s about!

[NaTaS]

I’ve been in Taichung for almost four years. I dig it for the most part. Rent is cheap, the weather is some what balanced compaired to the North and South, there are places to go and spots to pick up food you crave from home for the most part, and when you don’t feel like sticking around town everything else is just hours away.

As to the foreigners and the clicks, yeah, for sure it’s like that. I’ve noticed the few times I hung out in joints that foreigners frequent a lot, a sort of weird show down of ‘how long you been here’ happens. It’s like a lion showing it’s mane or a bear showing it’s teeth and claws. If you’ve been around longer they back down, but if they have, some sort of props are expected because they got five months or a year on you. Then the storys of “it’s changed so much since I’ve been here” come. Yeah fun times dealing with those stuck in that mentality! Though, if you go to any place that others hang out in and you don’t. You are going to find the same thing. Doesn’t matter if your in Taichung, Tampa, Toronto, Tijuana or Tokyo. I guess that’s why Cheers was so popular. Everyone knows your name. I personally find limiting my weekends and other spare time sitting around or jumping from one bar to another to be a waste. If other want to do it with there down time or join a tight circle someplace, cool, power to them. Just don’t expect me to be amazed and in awe because you’ve been in Taiwan longer or can tell me every dirty secret about every person you know in the bar that I don’t know.

As to nodding, if anyone, be it foreigner, local male, female, adult or child looks at me and I look at them for longer then two seconds I will always nod, smile or say hello. I don’t expect it back always, or think were going to debate the virutes of socialism because of it, but a nod can lead to something beyond hello sometimes.

[GongChangZhang]

@jeffoasis

i talk to anybody and everybody,

It’s YOU

[quote]
maybe you, dirt merchant and I should sink some beers and show everybody what it’s about! [/quote]

I’m really not as cool as I sound on the forums (and I don’t sound very cool on the forums )

[TomHill]

[quote=“Dirt Merchant”]I have to say, with regard to the foreign community in Taichung, it’s a mess!

There are thrice as many foreigners as there were when I arrived two years ago. And there are so many divisions amongst us - borne of ego clashes, desire to be ‘top dog’, petty rivalries, etc etc.

The rumour mill is alive and well in this town, and way too many foreigners plug into it and believe the shit they hear, recycle it in an exaggerated fashion, and swiftly brush all their dirt under the carpet.

I was at a popular nightspot on the weekend and looked around me, in all directions I saw haters. People that smile to your face and swiftly pull the dagger when you turn your back.

The majority of them don’t frequent this site, it’s way ahead of them - requires them to be objective and conscious of what they’re saying.

The above does not refer to the many people in Taichung, including posters on this site, who keep their noses clean, work hard and keep away from the ever spinning rumour mill.

BS, I say! Foreigners in Taichung, who live your fantasical, no-responsibilities lives, sort ya shit out!

It’s becoming a minefield of wankers and wannabees whenever I go out on the town…[/quote]

Dirt…
I think the absolute worst part about the foreigner scene is that you can find yourself in a lot of trouble over nothing. There are ‘guys’ in Taichung waiting to f#ck you over for no reason at all. That’s what I hate. You go into a bar and ‘hope’ that certain individuals are doing their drinking elsewhere that night. I have heard stories about myself that just aren’t true. And it’s always "He said you said blah blah blah.’

[redwagon]

Having been away from the Taichung bar scene for many years now, I don’t miss it at all. I’m sure I have missed out on meeting some excellent people, but the signal/noise ratio just got too low for it to be worth the effort. If I stray into some sort of foreigner scene these days, that hostility Dirt Merchant mentions is quite palpable. :s

[quote=“NaTaS”]some sort of props are expected because they got five months or a year on you.[/quote]This sort of thing is hilarious to those who measure their stay here in decades

There was a time when the foreigners here were divided into just two cliques, the teachers and everyone else, and it wasn’t like there was any razor wire between the two camps. After a month here you would know literally every single big nose in town, have had a beer with them or had them over to your house. It’s basically been down hill since then though.

[Baas_Babelaas]

Jeff, would love to join ya for a beer, but I recently quit the bottle.

In part because I was losing the plot a little on the stuff, in part because it’ll keep me out the pubs, and get me onto the hiking trails.

And I might save some dosh, too! Tired of paying upward of NT150 for a bottle of badly-brewed beer at a pub filled with characterless drunks.

Your welcome to PM me, and we’ll head out for a bike ride, hike, explore the mountains, go to the driving range…

From my side, I’m gonna try to take my own attitude to the next level, and offer my smile to others. I’ve kept it well-hidden for the last few months, and can’t reasonably expect to receive the positivity if I aint offering it…

Peas and Respek! Buya!

[turkey_dinner]

Taichung is alright it has lots to offer if you get in with the right crowd and give it some time. I’ve been near it for about 4 years. I guess it all depends on what you want from a city. I’m about to move to taipei because I need to network with more people with the same interests as me. I edit films and build flash sites and I’ll tell you… trying to find people with the same interests down here isn’t easy. I’m hoping that the dumpload of honkeys all up in that beast (taipei) can talk jive.

One more thing. I feel like a dork speaking chinese up in taipei because everyones’ English is decent. People don’t really give me the time of day up there either. Down in Taichung people haven’t figured out what disrespecting assholes most foreigners are, so they tend to smile and show interest in you’re steelo more often.

[Matchstick_man]

The cynic in me says “you’ll find yourself going to Taichung simply out of boredom in Nantou and the need to talk to more than the same people in your native language.” However I find myself doing the same thing but I live an hour another direction from the big smoke.

[violet]

How many foreigners are in Taichung, anyway?

The situation with the cliques makes it sound like a small town.

[Baas_Babelaas]

There’s enough foreigners here for it to be a healthy, co-operative community, but there’s not enough for people to stay out of each others faces - due to the size of the city itself, and the pubs/clubs/restaurants that cater to foreigners’ needs/wants.

I find myself wondering what I’m missing out on, having lived in bigger, more cosmopolitan cities like London, Johannesburg, Tel Aviv.

Come the end of the year it’s time to get back to a bigger city, for the sake of increased options and choices. Taipei peeps - see y’all then! Otherwise I’m off to another continent for a complete scenery change…

For now, it’s a ‘grin-and-bear-it’ situation…

[smerf]

Interesting letter about Taichung sidewalks in the TT today. While I agree with the author that Taipei is better than the Taichung he describes when it comes to sidewalks, there are still plenty of places in Taipei where the lack of an adequate sidewalk makes walking very dangerous.

In Taichung, where I have lived for about a dozen years, the mayor likes to talk about developing Taichung into a “world-class” city, but in developing a system for pedestrians, Taichung is a generation – or two – behind most “world-class” cities.

It doesn’t have to be this way. I lived in Taipei when the situation there was as almost as bad. It was, if I recall correctly, when President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was mayor that the police cleared Taipei’s qilou (騎樓), the breezeways at the ground level of nearly every building, and began ticketing cars and motorcycles that stopped in crosswalks. Bus lanes appeared. The city became more liveable almost overnight.

taipeitimes.com/News/edit/ar … 2003250440

[rice_t]

There are no pedestrians in Taichung, because - and that is one of the few things that I don’t like about Taichung - public transport is a pain at least compared to Taipeh.

Everybody goes anywhere by scooter or by car. Just like pre-MRT-Taipeh. And taxis seem to be more expensive in Taichung or is that a misperception?

[Sinister_Tiddlywinks]

When i lived in Taichung, I used to get pissed at the mothers who would walk down the street with their toddlers - and the toddlers were on the TRAFFIC side - kind of protecting their moms from on-coming cars or something.
In Taipei, it seems like moms tend to walk on the traffic side, protecting the kiddies.

But otherwise, I liked Taichung better. Maybe because it was more chaotic.